Proven Wrong
by loveislouder94
Summary: Three times Nymphadora Tonks proves Remus Lupin wrong, and one time she doesn't. An examination of their relationship in three parts.
1. Chapter 1

"…it's a blessed thing to love and feel loved in return." – EA Bucchianeri

Tonks finds out that Remus is a werewolf through Sirius, who lets it slip after ingesting one too many Firewhiskeys. Remus is furious and mortified, angry that Sirius would be so careless when he knows Remus' feelings on the matter, and convinced she won't want anything to do with him anymore.

This is the first time she proves him wrong.

"What's the big deal?" She asks, as though he'd merely told her he likes jam on his toast instead of butter and not the kind of information that sends most other witches and wizards running in the other direction.

"The big deal?" He snaps incredulously. "The big deal, as you so eloquently put it, is that I am a monster! An ugly, dangerous monster!"

"Yeah," she says, unfazed. "Once a month, maybe. But I challenge you to find me one woman who can't say the same." She slams her glass on the table emphatically, as though the matter is entirely settled. "The rest of the time, you're just like everyone else. Nicer than most, actually."

Remus shakes his head in disbelief, still reeling over her easy acceptance of his condition. Tonks can see that he's brushed aside the last part of what she said, refusing to acknowledge any positive attributes he possesses.

There's a quiet strength to the way he bears his lot in life, and Tonks finds his humility charming. From that day forth, she pays close attention to Remus Lupin and she learns a lot more than she bargains for. She notes that he prefers it when her hair is pink or purple, so she wears it those colours whenever she knows she'll see him.

She morphs her face into funny variations when she sees he's upset and doesn't stop until he laughs, or at least gives a small smile.

Clumsy is something she's always been, yet she gets worse when he's around. He makes her so happy she feels like she could burst with joy, and he simultaneously makes her jumpy and terrified, so desperate for him to respect her. She trips up stairs and down stairs, she trips into people and out of doorways and most embarrassingly, she trips over her own two feet, but Remus is always there to catch her, and he never laughs or makes her feel stupid. She does glimpse the beginning of an amused smile starting at the corners of his lips sometimes, and it's not a mocking one. It makes her feel like she's special, like they share a joke too precious for the rest of the world to know.

She hugs him in greeting just as she does Sirius, and if she occasionally hangs on a little longer than would be proper, well, there's nothing too telling in that, is there? As long as he can't tell how much she wishes she never had to let go.

Her behaviour changes in a multitude of ways, great and small, all because of Remus Lupin, and he doesn't seem to notice in the slightest. She'll never be brave enough to voice her feelings to him – because it gets to the point where she can't deny it any longer, she most definitely has feelings for Remus and those feelings might even be love. Instead of telling him, she tries to show him, and by so doing, determine if her feelings are reciprocated.

He's unpredictable and nigh on impossible to read. Sometimes, she's certain there's something between them, when she catches him staring at her during Order meetings, when they talk late into the night at Grimmauld Place and Remus is more relaxed than she has ever seen him.

The greatest indicator is his smile. It's rare for him to smile at all, but when he does, it's usually just a customary slight upturning of the lips in greeting, and it doesn't reach the rest of his face. Then there's his genuine smile that only Sirius seems able to bring out, when they reminisce about their Marauder days, time that were happier than this. Tonks thinks – dares to believe – that he has another smile, the rarest and most honest of all. It's one that emerges when they're on guard duty together and she's fiercely defending him against the prejudice of Umbridge's legislations, or when she visits the morning after full moons, bearing chocolate and enormous concern. This smile is for her eyes alone, and it shines from inside him, lighting up his face and making him seem years younger.

And yet they sometimes feel like strangers. It's usually before or after the full moon that he becomes cold and distant towards her. The smiles he gives her don't seem to reach his eyes, he'll retire to bed rather than stay up with her and Sirius and the closeness they've developed might never have existed.

"It's because he's more conscious of being a werewolf around the full moon. Don't take it personally, he thinks he doesn't deserve to be around you, and you shouldn't have to be around him," Sirius explains when they're alone one day.

"How did you know - ?"

"I've known Moony for years; he has an unfortunate habit of keeping a low opinion of himself and adjusting his behaviour accordingly. As to how I knew what was bothering you, you've been staring into your glass the whole time we've been sitting here, and your hair's slowly going duller. You're not good drinking company if you're going to sit and pine over my best friend the whole time."

"I'm not pining!" Tonks protests, her eyes flicking to the door as though she thinks Remus might be crouched behind it, listening.

"Tonks, I reckon the only person who's completely oblivious to your attempts to woo Remus is Remus himself. I'm not saying it to discourage you," he adds quickly, as she starts to blush a bright red that matches her hair. "Quite the opposite, I think you and Moony would make a beautiful couple, and if you were together, I could take all the credit for it."

"I'm being stupid. There's no way Remus could ever fancy clumsy, immature me." Ignoring the end of his statement, she leans her head on her hands morosely, the very picture of defeat.

"I beg to differ, dear cousin. Not only does he fancy you, I could quite easily say that he loves you. Not that he'll ever admit it for fear of ruining your life through association with a werewolf. What I'm telling you is not to give up. Remus can be a hard-headed idiot, but you two would be great together, and he'll see it in the end."

"Thanks Sirius," she says gratefully.

"Not a problem. Now, enough sobering conversation, I'm ready to get drunk!"

Those words become enormously important to Tonks over the coming year. When she's ready to give up on Remus and the relationship they might have, when she gets stuck in the belief that his apparent indifference means that he feels nothing for her, she replays Sirius' words over and over in her mind until she remembers the reason she's fighting a seemingly endless, ultimately worthwhile battle.

**Written for:**

**The Three-part canon Competition  
The Legendary Gods and Goddesses Competition - Ma'at (write about an Auror)**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, sings the tune without words and never stops at all." – Emily Dickinson

Bill and Remus are gone for two hours, twenty two minutes and five seconds while looking for Mad-Eye's body. Tonks knows, because she spends the entire time counting so she doesn't have to think.

She launches herself at Remus as soon as he's through the doorway, and she feels some of the tension in her dissipate with the knowledge that he's safe.

"Shouldn't you have asked me a security question?" He murmurs into her hair.

"Don't have to. You feel just the same as you always have." Remus is silent at that, marvelling at how he can have found someone quite so beautiful, in every sense of the word.

He reluctantly lets her go, informing the others that they'll be on their way. He can tell that Tonks wants nothing more than to be out of there, and he's just as exhausted and ready to fall into a deep sleep, hopefully one that will offer some sort of temporary reprieve from the grief this night has brought them.

"To your parents' house?"

"I guess so, though I'd rather leave it until the morning. They'll want to know that we're okay." That you're okay, he mentally corrects her, refraining from voicing it. She'll only insist that her parents like him, and he's not in the mood to entertain her wishful thinking.

They don't stay long. Andromeda pulls her daughter into a tight hug in a rare display of emotion, and Ted follows suit, shaking Remus' hand. They're both understandably shocked and saddened by the news of Mad-Eye's death, and Andromeda, not wanting to be parted from her daughter just yet, suggests they stay for tea.

"I just want to go home," Tonks says tiredly, so they say their goodbyes and disapparate to her – their – flat.

"Time for bed, I think," Remus yawns, assuming Tonks has followed him inside.

Receiving no response, he turns around and sees that Tonks is leaning against the wall for support, and notices for the first time just how pale she looks.

"Dora?" He cries, unable to hide the note of alarm in his voice.

"I'm okay…just a bit – dizzy."

Remus rushes towards her and is just in time to catch her as she slumps limply to the ground. "Dora!"

He lifts her and gently carries her to the couch, placing a pillow beneath her head. He hurriedly wets a cloth and pats her face, hoping to rouse her. A few minutes later, she wakes to find him hovering over her with a glass of water and two pieces of toast.

"What happened?"

"You fainted."

"How cliché."

"Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?"

"I didn't want to complain or make a fuss. I guess I probably should have eaten sooner…"

"Here," Remus says, handing her the plate of toast. "This might help."

She pretends to pout. "Don't I get any chocolate?"

"Chocolate is a given. Sustenance first. I want to make absolutely sure you're okay."

"I promise, I'm fine," she smiles weakly, patting the space beside her, "sit down."

He takes a seat next to her, not taking his eyes off her as she begins to recover. If anything had happened to her – he doesn't even want to consider that possibility. Waiting for her and Ron at the Burrow had been the most excruciating few minutes of his life, not knowing if he would ever see her again, if he'd be able to tell her how much he loved her one more time…

Outwardly, he had maintained a somewhat calm appearance; life repeatedly reinforces to him that showing your emotions makes you vulnerable and as a result it's not something he does often. Inwardly though, inwardly he had been a mess. Selfish though it was, he didn't care about anybody else, simply couldn't spare a prayer for them when Dora was in danger.

"I love you," he tells her now, trying to put everything he feels into those three words, and knowing she'll understand. He doesn't say it often, doesn't want the words to lose their meaning, but after coming so close – much too close – to losing her, he thinks it's warranted.

Remus is startled to see that she's crying. "Dora?"

"S-sorry," she sniffles, "I love you too, so much. It's just – Mad-Eye, I can't believe he's gone. He always seemed so strong, like nothing could ever stop him and now – we didn't even get to say goodbye…" She can't keep talking, overcome by her emotion.

"Shhh," he soothes, pulling her towards him and kissing her forehead, "I know. I know it hurts. It's okay. I'm here…"

She takes several deep breaths and lifts her head from his shoulder to survey him questioningly. "How did you ever do it? How did you ever survive after losing so much –James, Lily, Peter, and then Sirius, all over again?"

"I honestly don't know. But I know that I'm glad I did, I know that it was worth it, because now I've got you, and that's – you – you are the best thing that's ever happened to me. And you and I, we'll be okay."

"How do you know?"

"I don't. I hope, and that has to be enough."

When she's calmed down, he stands up to head to bed, and this time she follows him to their room, stretching and rubbing her eyes.

"At least the night is nearly over. It can't get much worse."

From her perch on the end of their bed, she raises her head to look at him, slightly apprehensive. "I'm pregnant," she reveals, and her smile overshadows the grief that had marked her face mere minutes ago.

"What?"

This is the second time she proves him wrong. This is the worst thing he's ever heard.

Once he's heard her repeat herself and accepts the terrible fact that this is not a nightmare, he stalks back into their room, pacing in agitation, and she doesn't give him a chance to explain, to beg her to get rid of the monster that grows inside her. He's just about to start rambling, to offer her reassuring words about how it won't hurt her in the slightest, and ask her to forgive him for doing this to her when she challenges him with a question.

"I thought you just said that everything will be okay, that we have to keep hoping?"

"Yes, I did," and he had been so sure mere minutes ago, but he isn't sure of anything anymore, he doesn't think this will ever be okay, that he'll ever learn to live with this guilt. _How can this have happened?_

**Written for the Three-part canon competition**

**Thank you for reading, don't forget to leave a review! Huge thanks to those who Followed, Favourited or reviewed the last chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

There are three important times that Remus fails his wife.

The first is when he rejects her advances for so long, breaking her heart (and his own, not that it matters) piece by piece.

The second is when he runs away from her and their unborn child.

He's a failure as a husband, and he'll be a failure as a father, but he has to go back to her. Now he knows the joy of being with her, he can't bear to be without her. So he turns up at her parents' doorstep, almost certain that he is beyond forgiveness.

This is the third time she proves him wrong.

She forgives him easily, despite how much she hurts, but trusting him is another matter entirely. "I'm here for good," he tells her time and time again, hating the way he remembers how he'd told her that before, and left anyway.

No matter how many times he tells her that, or any variation of those words, he can't mend her broken trust. Promises not kept are empty and hurtful, and the only way he can make it up to her is by staying. In staying, he'll be substantiating all those hollow words with actions, giving her a place to plant her faith again.

It's a slow process and for once, Remus feels impatient, unwilling to sit through this awkward phase of learning and relearning how to be with her, when being together used to feel more natural than anything. Back when Sirius was still alive, and theirs was an easy, uncomplicated friendship, they'd fall into conversation as though they'd been talking all their lives.

Now, he doesn't know what to say. He loathes sitting in silence with her, it makes him want to fill the void with endless apologies and explanations she won't want to hear. He's painfully conscious of the fact that they're in the middle of the greatest war ever faced by the wizarding world, terrified that every word he speaks to her might be the last.

They celebrate the end of the year in her parents' backyard, without any fuss or festivities. Ted's death hangs over them all, the unspoken elephant in the room. They're determined to make the best of it, though.

"Happy New Year, Remus," Tonks says, and he doesn't care that it feels wrong to be so happy when there's so much to be sad about, he lets himself enjoy it.

He starts to return the greeting, but before he can get the words out, she's covered his lips with hers in a wordless celebration of the tumultuous year they've had and the year that is yet to come. Fireworks explode in the sky above them, and fireworks explode between them, and Remus spares a moment to think that Nymphadora Tonks will keep proving him wrong for the rest of their lives, and he's more than happy to let her.

It is the first and only New Year they spend together, and in just over four months' time, they will both have left the living world behind.

Before he leaves for the Battle of Hogwarts, Remus says a painful goodbye to her and Teddy. They are the most precious thing in his world, and they have given him something worth dying for. For him, taking part in the Battle is not an option or a choice, it is a necessity. If any contribution he makes leaves their world the smallest bit safer, he'll do it, regardless of the cost to himself. There is nothing he wouldn't do for Teddy and Dora, nothing.

Reaching into one of his pockets, he removes an envelope and places it on the nightstand in Teddy's room. The letter it contains is filled with a small selection of all the things he wishes his son to know, just in case.

Hearing the sounds of someone tripping, and then muffled cursing, Remus turns towards the door, where Dora stands, watching.

"I'm coming too," she says firmly, morphing so that she's tall enough to look him directly in the eye.

"No! It's too dangerous! You could get hurt!"

"I won't. You know damn well I'm more than capable of defending myself."

She's right, so he tries a different angle. "You have to stay with Teddy. He needs his mother, Dora."

"He needs his father, too, so don't pull that one with me! We'll both go, and we'll both come back to him."

"No!" He snaps desperately. "You can't – I can't – I can't lose you, don't you understand that?" He grabs her shoulders, begging her to back down, to be safe, and the rawness of his confession moves her to relent.

"I do," she says softly. "I'll stay, okay?" He wants to believe her so badly that he misses the lie in her voice.

"Okay. I love you." They kiss once, a bittersweet goodbye, and then he's off.

This is the third time he fails her, and the first time she doesn't prove him wrong.

He's in the middle of duelling Dolohov when he notices her, pink hair impossible to miss amongst the sea of fighters. She's duelling Bellatrix with everything she's got, giving as good as she gets, but Bellatrix is far from done.

It only takes a moment, and Remus feels it somewhere in his chest, that split second when the world seems to stop spinning, because Dora is no longer in it. Bellatrix fires spell after spell, relentless in her onslaught and the insults she hurls at her niece, and somehow, one of them slips past her defences, snuffing out her light as though she is a feeble, insignificant candle.

"Dora!" He doesn't mean to shout, the sound is ripped from some place inside of him, grief that cannot be contained, his final and greatest loss.

Bellatrix laughs madly at his despair and disappears into the fray, her mission complete.

He failed her yet again, he should have saved her, protected her, and that's all he can think; adrenaline shields him from the onslaught of grief that is sure to come. He isn't left with his regret for long; Dolohov has not stopped duelling him, and smiles cruelly at Remus, sensing his advantage. Remus battles half-heartedly now, trying to think of Teddy, but it's not enough.

Dolohov's spell catches him off-guard, and it's with a small sense of relief, mixed with regret for his soon to be orphaned son, that Remus follows his wife into the afterlife.

There are three times Remus Lupin fails Nymphadora Tonks, and three times she proves him wrong, but there are a million moments of happiness in between, and it's those moments that make them who they are, and those moments for which they will be remembered.

**AN: If you're going to follow or favourite, please leave a review, too! Thanks :) **

**Written for:**

**The three part series canon competition**

**The All Sorts of Love Competition - OTP**


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